Yellow Stone September 6 - 9, 2009 Fortunately I had some good advice from my friend Bob who had camped in this area last year and he recommended that we consider camping in one of the several U.S. Forest Service campgrounds in the West Yellowstone area. And I am thankful for his counsel as we found Baker Hole Campground. It’s a wonderful place to camp right on the Madison River, with level sites and electric. The fishing isn’t bad either. Yellowstone National Park, our country’s first National Park, was established in 1872 and set the concept of national parks into motion that continues today around the world. Yellowstone has since evolved into a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site. After purchasing our fishing license at the Old Faithful Inn concession store John and I couldn’t wait to “wet a line” as he likes to say. And wet a line we did. During our several day visits to Yellowstone we are proud to report that we fished the Madison River, the Firehole River, and the Yellowstone River. Each of which are famous rivers to fly fish. One afternoon while fishing on the Firehole, we had the good fortune of meeting Law Enforcement Ranger Dennis Young, who impressed us both as a true professional who would soon be joining us among the ranks of retired park professionals. Good Luck in your retirement Dennis! You earned it my friend. Yellowstone is home to the Museum of the National Park Ranger. And it is a must see exhibit for those of us who have worn the uniform of a Park Ranger. I think more needs to be done to document the history of our profession. I encourage more agencies to establish archives and to develop an exhibit of their own. Cleveland Metro Parks has an excellent exhibit in their Headquarters, another example that we can all learn from. I was fortunate to see theirs during one of PLEA’s annual workshops a few years ago.

Big Hole and Madison Rivers September 3 - 5, 2009 On our way to Yellowstone National Park over the next few days we camped in the towns Dillon and Ennis Montana, where we fished the Big Hole and Madison Rivers. Along the way we stopped at the famous historic frontier town of Virginia City and toured the shops along Main Street.

September 2, 2009 The following is quoted in part from the Big Hole National Battlefield park brochure: “In the summer of 1877 five bands of Nez Perce Indians consisting of 800 people, including 250 warriors, began a 1,170-mile journey from northeastern Oregon and central Idaho over the Bitter-root Mountains and through the Montana Territory. Through they were herding more than 2,000 horses and carrying whatever possessions they could manage, the Nez Perce made this long and difficult trek in less than four months. United States Army troops under General Oliver O. Howard had orders to place these five bands on Nez Perce on a small reservation in central Idaho. The Nez Perce had hoped to elude the soldiers, but they were forced to stop and face their pursuers several times. The battle with the highest number of casualties during this epic odyssey took place in the Big Hole Valley of southwestern Montana. The Battle of the Big Hole was a tragic turning point of what came to be called the Nez Perce War of 1877.” At this Historic Battlefield John and I visited the park’s visitor center and then walked the Siege Area Trail where much of the battle was fought. The trenches the soldiers had dug are still visible today. This park interperates not only this battlefield, but also about the Nez Perce, Chief Joseph, and Chief Looking Glass who was the leader of the Nez Perce at the start of the fight. This night we camped right on the Big Hole River in a BLM campground about eight miles west of Wise River. It was a beautiful campground and is provided free of charge. In hind-sight perhaps we should have camped here a few more days to fish the Big Hole River.

Chief Looking Glass State Park Montana August 27 –September 2, 2009 John and I returned to Missoula where we camped for several days to stay out of the holiday traffic congestion and to fish the nearby trout streams. We camped at a private campground for a few days and then moved south to Chief Looking Glass State Park which is where I lost the air conditioning $$$ compressor in the truck. Fortunately we weren’t far from Missoula where it was repaired. The next day we found the Spring Gulch Campground in a National Forest Service and we camped right on the Bitterroot River. This was one of the nicest campgrounds we had found on this trip. The sites are large, paved, and clean. And the fishing was good too!

Today we traveled across Idaho to a small town outside of Spokane. John and I were having the time of our lives these last two months traveling, camping, touring, visiting parks, and sharing our experiences with our wives by our sides, the four of us were living life large. But it was now time for Annette and Betty to return home and back to work. Both ladies work for the Florida Park Service and were fortunate to be able to get two months leave for our adventure. Tomorrow Annette and Betty will rent a car and drive to Seattle for their return flight home, a sad day for the four of us.

10/9/2009 Missoula, Montana August 25, 2009 Let me digress a little, back to August 6th at the campground in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. This is where we met our new friends from Tampa, John and Jan. These fine folks quickly became friends of John, Betty, Annette, and I. John and Jan traveled with us for the next three weeks as we continued our journey south. They too were returning from Alaska and we thoroughly enjoyed their company while the six of us traveled caravan style to Missoula Montana. It was here at Missoula that we said our goodbyes’ as they continued south toward home and John, Betty, Annette, and I turned west to Washington. We look forward to visiting and camping with them again soon.

West Glacier, Montana Glacier National Park August 22 - 24, 2009 Leaving Waterton we traveled the Chief Mountain International Highway south, crossing the Blood Indian Reserve and thru both parks crossing the international boundary and clearing Customs, happy to be back in the good ole U. S. of A. The drive south into Montana near the east boundary of Glacier National Park is beautiful scenery but it didn’t cloud the feeling of being back in the lower 48. It was a good feeling of familiarity after having been in Canada for so long. We found a nice private campground not far from the park’s entrance in West Glacier, where we camped for the duration of our visit to Glacier National Park. The next day we entered the park early and were among the first park visitors to catch the shuttle buses the park provides to reduce congestion on the park roads. I was glad we collectedly decided to take the optional shuttle buses because the Going –to-the-Sun Road was another narrow winding that hugs the mountain on the way to Logan Pass and the visitor center. Vehicles over 21 feet long and over 10 feet tall are prohibited from traveling this spectacular road and it was obvious why. At the Logan Pass visitor center we hiked the Hidden Lake trail where we were treated wonderfully by seeing incredible mountain scenery and several mountain goats up close, and a few marmots gathering food in preparation for winter that would soon be here. Established as a National Park in 1910, this is a very special place, some say even scared. But consider that this park’s global importance, as it was designated as a Biosphere Reserve in the 1970s and a World Heritage Site in 1995. We were fortunate in that the park was having a special event this day, kicking off the 100 year anniversary calibration to take place the next 12 months. At the event I had hoped to see a friend who had been the Chief Interpretive Ranger of Glacier. We had met when we both participated as team members of an international group of park professionals as consultants on a trip to India in 1990 to help India establish a marine biosphere reserve. That wasn’t to be as I learned that she had recently retired and moved to another state. But I did have the very good fortune of meeting Ranger Amy Vanderbilt who had worked with and was friends with Cindy. I also had the good fortune of meeting LE Ranger Steve Dodd who was a charter member of PLEA when he had worked for Cleveland Metro Parks many years ago.

Author

As we travel our world visiting parks, meeting others in our profession and introducing them to the benefits of the Park Law Enforcement Association. We'll share adventures by way of this blog.. Please check back from time to time to see what we have been up to.. Oh, and plesae leave a comment so I know someone is enjoying these....